South African Paralegalism and Holistic Mediation

By Johan Claassens

South African Paralegalism and Holistic Mediation

By Johan Claassens (Mpsy.D) Ph.D

 

Attorneys teach paralegals the law, but only a successful paralegal can teach another paralegal how to run a successful business. That's what Johan Claassens aims to do through this book, South African Paralegalism and Holistic Mediation.

 

In this complete guide, the author explains everything an aspiring paralegal in South Africa needs to know to start out and succeed in the field of paralegalism and holistic mediation. He talks about the duties, responsibilities and desired paralegal skills, based on your areas of focus, or sectors of law to consider.

 

In addition to the legal aspects of being a paralegal and the various authorities you will deal with in the industry, he also provides information into general business and marketing practices needed to succeed in your own business.

 

Each action-packed, concisely written chapter will help you gain valuable information to help you

• Understand what a paralegal is and what that means in South Africa.
• Create a business plan for your paralegal and holistic mediation business.
• Develop as an individual and business person.
• Manage your business finances and workload.
• Market your practice, and more.

If you have always dreamed about becoming a paralegal or a legal strategist, South African Paralegalism and Holistic Mediation will help you gain the knowledge and understanding of the options that are available to you. The book will also teach your valuable insights into general business management that can be used across a wide spectrum of industries.

 

Purchase your copy of South African Paralegalism and Holistic Mediation today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Johan Claassens
• Release date: May 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393706540

Johan Claassens

Author, Adventurer, Legal Strategist for Companies, Keynote speaker on Spiritual Awakening, and Human Behavior.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

I do not believe there is any other way of starting this book other than with a Keynote Address speech by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Hon John Jeffery MP at the 1st National Conference on Paralegalism hosted by the Department of Law, Tshwane University of Technology at the ABSA Conference Centre, Montana, Tshwane, 23rd February 2015. I have typed the speech precisely as printed on the justice website. www.justicegov.za

Thank you for the kind invitation; it is indeed a pleasure for me to be here at the very first National Conference on Paralegalism. The role played by paralegals in the history of our country is closely linked to our struggle for freedom.

Under apartheid the justice system was repressive, brutal and dehumanising. Legal services and legal advice were generally unavailable to black people. The majority of our country’s people had nowhere to go when faced with legal problems. Whilst Legal Aid did exist in theory, in reality it was ineffective and inaccessible. For example, from 1975 – 1976, only 810 applications were approved by Legal Aid for legal aid in criminal cases. If one imagines the large number of criminal cases, were predominately black people, but also others, faced charges under draconian apartheid laws it is clear that legal aid was simply unable to deliver. So where did they go for assistance? They went to paralegals, mostly working in community advice offices, CAO’s, as we call them. Paralegals were at the coal-face. They were often the very first port of call for those who had nowhere else to turn.

Jackie Dugard and Katherine Drage, in an article on paralegalism, highlighted the work of the Black Sash. The Black Sash set up paralegals in community advice offices in urban areas to assist black people who contravened the apartheid laws, particularly these that restricted freedom of movement. These offices provided support and free paralegal services, addressing concerns around housing, unemployment pensions, influx control, and detention without trial. Between the 1960’s and the 1980’s, Black Sash CAO’s flourished, and provided evidence with which the group informed its public protests and its monitoring of government policy, legislation, and action, as well as court activities. This allowed the Black Sash to also monitor and record protests, rallies, arrests, detentions and deaths. Today paralegals are still in most cases, the first line of assistance. Many people, in particular people who are poor, marginalised and vulnerable and do not have the resources to access private lawyers, turn to paralegals.

In short, paralegals play many roles. They are often more than paralegals they are also activists, counsellors and educators. A paralegal needs to have knowledge of the law and its procedures, has to know about conflict resolution and must be an activist too, with the commitment, attitude and skill to help people and communities with their legal, human rights, administrative, constitutional and development problems, while at the same time empowering them.

The ambit of a paralegal role is a wide one; a paralegal may investigate and refer matters to lawyers or relevant bodies for them to deal with. They can become educators of the law and rights for people in their communities. They can, play a leading and supportive role in campaigns for improving community living standards and general community development. They fulfil a very important role in the broader justice system. From the side of the government, we value the role of paralegals in the quest for justice for all. Our department, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, is pleased to announce that we have recently placed 200 paralegals at our courts, so as to provide capacity on quasi-judicial processes.

Legal Aid SA is one of the biggest employers of paralegals in the country. Their 2014 Annual Report also makes mention of its paralegal capacity. Providing general legal advice is an important part of Legal Aid SA’s service delivery programme. This is done through the dedicated paralegal capacity at their 128 offices as well as the national call centre, the Legal Aid SA Advice Line. In the last finance year a total of 328’979 general advice consultations were conducted. This represents a growth of 10% over the previous financial year.

On the issue of the broader justice system and access to justice, let me say that we still have many challenges, the most fundamental being how to enhance access to justice given limited resources. The reality is that many people live in rural areas and not all South African are literate. Even for those who are literate, the law and the legal system are complex, often overwhelming and not always easy to understand. Since 1994 there have been many initiatives and interventions to make justice more accessible. From the side of our Department we have rolled out 330 Small Claim Courts and strengthened the capacity and funding of Legal Aid SA. We have transformed our judiciary, passed many ground-breaking new laws and undertook education and awareness program to inform people of their human rights. We have built new courts, renovated old ones, and brought the courts closer to the people. The construction of new High Courts in Limpopo and Mpumalanga is underway and these courts will be opened as part of the Presidential projects during 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Improving access to justice for all and enhancing the rule of law have been critical priorities for Government and consequently in the last two decades specific initiatives were undertaken to extend access to justice – especially to the more rural areas. Many of you will be familiar with the new Legal Practice Act. In this Conference Call for Papers it refers to the Legal Practice Bill, as it then was, and states that it is noteworthy that no mention has been made about paralegals in the present draft. The Bill has since been enacted and I can assure you that there is indeed specific mention of paralegal in the new Legal Practice Act. Section 34(9) of the Act provides that the Council must, within two years after the commencement of Chapter 2 of the Act, investigate and make recommendations to the Minister on the Statutory recognition of paralegals, taking into account best international practices, the public interest and the interests of the legal profession, with the view to legislative and other interventions in order to improve access to the legal profession and access to justice generally. This provision was inserted into the Legal Practice Bill by the portfolio Committee in the National Assembly after representations were received from paralegal organisations to ensure that provision was made for the finalisation of legislation. As it will take about three years for the Legal Practice Council to be established, we need to consider whether this is still the best way to go or whether work should not start earlier on legislation relating to paralegals.

We are aware of the problems being faced by paralegals, in particular issues of funding and formal recognition. For example, last week it was reported that the Paralegal Advice Office in Gugulethu will soon be forced to close down if it is unable to secure funding by April this year. Founded in 1998, the office has assisted hundreds of people with a variety of legal issues, ranging from consumer rights to social grant deductions and mediation matters. The office coordinator, a paralegal, Matthews Tshofuthi, said at this stage we are running dry. I don’t even know if we will be able to pay the telephone bill for January. The Ward Counsellor is helping us with the office we work from because we can’t afford to pay rent. We know that many community paralegals, working in non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), community advice offices and other grassroots institutions, face the same problem of struggling to get funding it needs to keep the projects going. Paralegals play a pivotal role not only in assisting people with issues such as housing benefits, social grants and consumer rights, but also importantly in the criminal justice process.

A 2010 World Bank report states that –

"Paralegal services should be viewed as especially necessary in Sub-Sahara Africa because of the poor extent of access to justice available to most Africans.

In systems suffering from high prisoner remand populations and extensive court delays, there can be little or no case for bolstering the private legal profession or even the government public defender offices while the more urgent need for paralegal services is neglected. Paralegals should be viewed as a priority in building credible systems of justice in Africa."

According to the December